‘Uprising against Putin’: the Swiss papers react

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivering a televised address to the nation on Saturday Keystone / Sergei Ilnitsky

The aborted mutiny at the weekend by Russia’s Wagner mercenary group and its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin produced only losers in Russia, according to Swiss newspapers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is the centre of attention – and the headlines in the Sunday press were clear: “Uprising against Putin” (NZZ am Sonntag), “Times are tough for Putinologists” (SonntagsBlick), “The unfinished coup” (SonntagsZeitung), “Putin’s loss of face” (SRF).

Under the headline “The uprising shows the decay of Putin’s regime”, the NZZ am SonntagExternal link saw Prigozhin’s move as a consequence of Putin’s many years of rule. Incompetence and corruption in the army and administration, as well as the misguided decision to attack Ukraine, had only created the conditions that made the weekend’s mutiny possible, it said. “The Russian dictator does not appear to be the cunning strategist – not even the shrewd tactician – who always knows how to balance the ambitions of the ruling elite.”

Russia sought to restore calm on Monday after Wagner fighters halted a rapid advance on Moscow, withdrew from the seized southern Russian city of Rostov and headed back to their bases late on Saturday under a deal that guaranteed their safety. Prigozhin was to move to Belarus under the deal mediated by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, the Kremlin said.

Swiss public television, SRFExternal link, took the same line as the NZZ am Sonntag. “This weekend Vladimir Putin experienced his most difficult hours since taking office. Never before has his power been so shaken, never before has he lost face in front of his home audience,” it said.

Putin seemed overwhelmed and cornered by the uprising, while his security apparatus appeared weaker than ever. The domestic intelligence service, which Putin had greatly expanded, had neither seen the threat coming nor been able to stop it, SRF said. The outlook was bleak, it predicted. “The country is facing chaotic years. The uprising has shown that Putin’s autocracy won’t lead to stability but will end in power struggles among criminals.”

Putin’s twilight?

The SonntagsBlickExternal link turned to Putin’s image abroad. “Whatever the outcome of this coup attempt, it destroys a legend that Putin insiders, neutrality dogmatists and ‘pacifists’ of all stripes love to spread: the narrative that the Kremlin boss consolidates the geopolitical balance of power, is a reliable ally and keeps the oligarchs in check. In short, that Vladimir Putin stands for stability,” it wrote.

The Putin system had not yet been destroyed, “but the arguments of his defenders have”, it concluded.

Was this also “Putin’s twilight”, Le Temps asked in Geneva? In any case, the paper said “Moscow trembled before the Wagner group” when Prigozhin turned against his master.

This could mean the end for the paramilitary organisation, reckoned the Tribune de GenèveExternal link. Even if Prigozhin can count on sympathy among frustrated citizens, his support among the elites is not solid, it said.

“Which Russia will be left after this bizarre weekend?” wondered the Tages-AnzeigerExternal link. The Russian state had experienced its greatest shock in 30 years and the embattled Belarussian dictator Alexander Lukashenko of all people had helped Putin out of trouble, it wrote. “It remains open who might have given Prigozhin hopes of a triumph in Moscow and then abandoned him. This latest research task for Kremlinologists should be crucial to understanding which Russia emerges from this weekend.”

Translated from German by Thomas Stephens